1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to carts capable of being manually manipulated by a person and manually dumped. More specifically, the invention relates to such carts, which may be dumped utilizing a combination of a downwardly applied pressure on a handle assembly and an upwardly applied pressure on the handle assembly or dumping by an upward applied pressure on the handle assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous types of carts exist which have a wheel or wheels, a container and a handle assembly where the cart can be manually manipulated by a person and manually dumped. A classic example of such a cart is a wheel-barrow which typically has a single front wheel, opposing handles which extend from the front wheel rearward, support legs extending downward from the handle and a bucket fixedly attached to the top of the handles. Millions of such carts have been produced for domestic use in the United States. In use the wheelbarrow typically rests on the ground at the front wheel and the support legs when not being manipulated by a person. From this position the bucket of the wheelbarrow may be loaded. When the wheelbarrow is to be moved from one position to another the person grips the handles distal from the front wheel and raises the handles to raise the support legs off of the ground. At this point the wheelbarrow is supported by the front wheel and the person manipulating the handles. When a dumping of the contents of the bucket is desired, without regard for whether the support legs are in contact with the ground or elevated above the ground for movement of the wheelbarrow, the person raises the handles to angularly tip the wheelbarrow up. This operation is performed countless times each day by construction workers as well as casual users. Despite the fact that this operation is routinely performed it remains an awkward operation to perform. First the hands move upward while lifting the handles up in a pulling action then a transfer occurs where the person's grip on the handles shifts and then the person applies a pushing action upward to the handles. This operation is performed while balancing the weight of the wheelbarrow and the contents of the bucket across the opposing handles while stepping toward the wheel and on the single front wheel.
Various innovations have been made to wheelbarrow designs to make the above dumping operation more controllable. A first class of innovations involves increasing the stability of the front wheel by either providing for a wider wheel or providing for opposing spaced adjacent wheels. Another class of innovations involves providing unique angular arrangement of at least the grip portion of the handles. Another class of innovations is known in the art for a more controllable dumping which involve providing for a downward pressure to be applied to the handles to perform the dumping procedure while the support legs remain in contact with the ground during the entire dumping procedure. Two examples of such designs appear in U.S. Pat. No. 1,032,009 to Long in 1912 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,037,222 to Farrar in 1935. Both of these designs have leg supports, which are fixedly positioned relative to their respective front wheels.
Various deficiencies exist with the known designs for carts of the wheelbarrow type. As can be seen various attempts have been made to provide for a more controllable dumping operation of wheelbarrows. These attempts have been less efficient than desired. As such, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for a cart design, which provide for performance of a dumping operation, which may be easily, safely and comfortably performed. The present invention substantially fulfills these needs.